(Aliosha Marquez/AP)Chile's central government moved to position additional Army personnel and Carabineros (Chile's national uniformed police force) officers in Conepcion, Talcahuano and other municipalities close to the epicenter of Saturday's magnitude 8.8 earthquake in a bid to quell looting in those areas. Over the weekend, looters emptied supermarkets, clothing stores, gas stations, grain silos and electronics stores, burning some of them to the ground afterwards. Authorities in Concepcion had declared a curfew and police had 55 people in custody for curfew violation on Sunday.
(Natacha Pisarenko/AP)Outgoing Chilean President Michele Bachelete promised to deliver aid to the quake-stricken regions as the death toll went past 700, with 723 dead and at least 19 missing. Firefighters in Concepcion had pulled 25 survivors and eight bodies from a collapsed apartment complex while firefighters, soldiers and urban search and rescue teams were searching for signs of life in other collapsed buildings. Many survivors had taken to sleeping outside on the sidewalks, anticipating another quake.
The price of copper saw a brief spike on international trading, as Chile is the world's largest exporter of copper. Officials say the quake and its aftermath is expected to slow, but not halt the production and export of copper.
And at this time, Not Another New England Sports Blog! would like to salute Chilean tabloid La Cuarta for not only providing images and updates on the quake's aftermath throughout the weekend, but also providing Chileans with completely gratuitous T&A in their hour of need.
Mil Gracias, La Cuarta! Como se dice 'NSFW'?
Fraternizing With the Help [Today's News Poem, March 1, 2010]
ReplyDelete“One man says that the real crisis is about to begin, with people out of work and hungry.”
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Chile-Battles-Lawlessness-Desperation-After-Massive-Earthquake-85842342.html
“It was still unclear how many people died in Dichato, where distraught residents wandered the picturesque tourist town trying to salvage possessions and gazing at their ruined homes in scenes reminiscent of the Asian tsunami in 2004 that smashed into coastlines from Thailand to India.”
--Mario Naranjo, Mon Mar 1, 2010 2:25pm EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6204CB20100301
“Economists' confidence in Chile's ability to bounce back from the earthquake has been strengthened by the fact its copper mines suffered minimum damage, and soon resumed operations. ”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8543816.stm
A fool takes torch to that which nature yet abhors.
Why burn or blast a place that wilts by self's accord?
When quakes, tornadoes, floods ensure whatever shore
Or neighborhood the wealthy—who are simply bored—
Desire, they get, then who needs legal theft? The shock
Of quakes can do what we would have to pay, for free.
It's true the poor are drowned again—with ink—but stocks
Appreciate post-bounce. This rising tide—it frees
A market force. Renewed. The people are renewed
With fops who found their homes on graves and rubble-bones.
The highest use for anything is wealth. Denude
The land of serfs with surf, replaced with finer tones
Of speech and class—they've carried me on broken spines
Around the world: a working man will tend not whine.
Now carry me to bed anon—I'm drunk on wine.
http://toylit.blogspot.com/2010/03/fraternizing-with-help-todays-news-poem.html